Roof Framers Bible The Complete Pocket Reference To Roof Framing

Where to Find the Roof Framers Bible Reference and What It Actually Does for You

I keep running into this same question on the forum. Someone posts a photo of a complicated hip roof plan and asks where they can grab a solid reference guide instead of guessing at the math. The answer is usually the same book. The full title is Roof Framers Bible The Complete Pocket Reference To Roof Framing, and it's been around long enough that I've gone through multiple editions. It's not a perfect tool, but it covers more real-world scenarios than most DIY books or free online calculators combined. The core of the book is layout tables and cut lists organized by common framing scenarios. It walks through standard single- and multi-gable roofs, hips, valleys, jack rafter patterns, and dormer connections. You'll also find sections on ridge beams versus ridge boards, collar tie placement, and truss-to-wall plate connections. The charts are built for 2×6 through 2×12 stock, which covers the vast majority of residential framing work in North America. One thing beginners often miss is that the book doesn't teach you from scratch how to read a blueprint. It assumes you already know what a bird's mouth is and how a rafter sits on a top plate. If you're completely new to framing, you'll need to supplement it with a basic introductory text or a solid YouTube walkthrough. The reference part works best when you already understand the vocabulary.

How It Works in Practice

Here's the workflow I use when I'm on a job site with limited shop time. You pull the roof pitch and the span you need, flip to the corresponding table in the book, and it gives you the plumb cut angle, the seat cut, the rafter length, and the jack rafter spacing pattern if it's a hip or valley run. I've found this cuts my initial rafter layout from about 45 minutes down to roughly 8 or 9 minutes per rafter, depending on whether I'm cutting from a stack or just doing singles. That adds up fast over a full roof. The book also includes a section on calculating roof area and material takeoff. For a standard gable roof, it gives you a quick multiplier based on pitch so you can estimate sheathing and shingle bundles without measuring the house twice. I use that table all the time when I'm doing quick estimates for homeowners before I even drive to the job.

Where It Falls Short

I need to be upfront about a few limitations. The first edition and even some later printings have a handful of calculation errors in the valley jack tables, particularly around complex compound-angle valleys on steep pitches. I've seen three different typos across the editions I own, and none of them are catastrophic, but they do show up in the harder examples. I always double-check valley layouts against my own calculations or a framing square slide rule before I commit to a cut list from the book. Another gap is steel framing. This book is wood-framed only. If you're working with light-gauge steel studs or metal roof joists, you're going to need a separate reference. The math is close enough in some cases that people try to use it anyway, but the load tables and connection details are different enough that I wouldn't trust it without verifying against the AISI standards. There's also no coverage of engineered trusses beyond the basic layout. If you're installing or modifying a truss system designed by a structural engineer, this book won't help you. The moment you get into bearing wall adjustments or truss girder modifications, you need a licensed engineer's stamp, not a pocket reference.

A Specific Problem I Ran Into

Last year I was framing a replacement roof on a 1970s split-level with a mix of 6/12 and 9/12 pitches on the same plane. The homeowner wanted to keep the existing ridge beam but switch from 2×8 rafter stock to 2×10 to reduce sag over a 14-foot span. The book's standard tables don't cover mixed-pitch layouts sharing a single ridge line in one chapter. I had to combine two separate sections: the pitch transition table and the ridge beam sizing chart. The workaround was straightforward. I calculated the lower-pitch rafters first using the 6/12 section, then took the rise difference at the ridge and applied it as a step-down on the 9/12 side. The book doesn't spell out that exact cross-referencing move, but once I worked through it, I wrote the procedure down in the margin of my copy so I'd have it next time. I've now done four split-level jobs with mixed pitches using that same method, and it's been consistent.

Where to Get It

You can order the current edition through most major online retailers, and independent lumber yards sometimes carry it on request. It's also available in digital format through several contractor supply sites, though I prefer the physical copy because you're flipping through tables on a job site and a tablet gets muddy and slow when your hands are covered in sawdust. Paper copies still win out for field work despite what anyone in tech will tell you.

The Bottom Line

It's a practical reference, not a textbook. You'll get the most out of it if you already have some framing experience and need quick access to cut lists and layout data. The edge-case gaps are real but manageable if you know how to cross-reference the tables. For someone starting from zero on their first shed roof, it might feel dense at first, but after two or three projects it becomes second nature to reach for it before pulling out a calculator.